1 Life Cycle Analysis Meets Cost Benefit Analysis (in the Paint Aisle) Jeff Cantin Bev Sauer Franklin Associates (a div. of ERG) May 19-22, 2008 Baltimore MD

2 Latex Paint 343 million gallons sold each year 64 million gallons left over Average retail price: $20 per gallon Cost to municipalities to manage as HHW: $ $13.50 per gallon (PSI 2004) “Largest volume material collected by most household hazardous waste collection programs” (EPA 2007)

3 Latex Paint Basic ingredients Pigment – color, protection, filler Resin (binder) – adhesion and film forming Solvent – water Co-solvents – alcohols, ethylene glycol Additives Thickeners Fungicides and preservatives Plasticizers Defoamers

4 Health and environmental concerns Older paints may contain mercury or mercuric compounds (banned in 1990) or lead (banned in 1978) Contain some solvents (ethylene glycol, glycol ethers) Bactericides may contain formaldehyde Toxic to fish (CA DFG 1990) Latex Paint

5 Disposal options Liquid – not accepted for landfill disposal Dried and solidified – nonhazardous, accepted at most landfills Consumer confusion Water-based vs. oil-based? OK to landfill? How to dry or stabilize? Result Substantial quantities brought to HHW collections Mixture of latex and oil-based paint Latex Paint

6 Stewardship Opportunities Increasing Levels of Stewardship Dry and dispose as MSW Collect and downcycle Landfill cover or fuel blending Collect and reuse/recycle —Send offsite for recycling —Onsite swap or blending Return to retailer —Send to recycler —Send to manufacturer to be recycled —Onsite blending, re-sale Direct consumer re-use Consumer education —Buy what you need —Store properly —Use it up Product reformulation Eliminate health and environmental concerns

7 Multistakeholder Process Product Stewardship Institute National Paint and Coatings Association 4 paint recyclers 7 states, 18 municipalities U.S. EPA Paint Product Stewardship Initiative (PPSI)

8 PPSI Projects Education Projects Project #1 Leftover Paint Management Education Pilot Project #2 Public Education Survey and Analysis Infrastructure Projects Project #3 Paint Reuse Guidance Manual Project #4 National Leftover Paint Infrastructure Model Project #5 National Leftover Paint Infrastructure Cost Analysis Market Projects Project #6 Market Development Strategy Project #7 Recycled Paint Marketing Guide for Distributors Project #8 Recycled Paint Certification System Other Projects Project #9 Health, Safety, Environmental & Regulatory Issues Project #10 Financing System Research and Model Development Project #11 Lifecycle Balance of Costs and Benefits

9 LCA / CBA of Leftover Latex Paint What are the lifecycle costs, benefits, and environmental impacts of alternative leftover paint management schemes? Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

10 Scoping phase Define alternative leftover paint management methods Define relevant categories of costs and benefits Define the “functional unit” and “reference flow” Define the system boundaries Identify potential data sources Identify data quality criteria Analysis phase Data collection LCA modeling CBA modeling LCA / CBA integration LCA / CBA of Leftover Latex Paint

11 LCA Definition As defined in ISO 14040, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the “compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.”

12 LCA Process Internationally accepted ISO standards (14040, 14044) provide the framework for conducting LCA: 1. Goal and Scope Definition 2. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) 3. Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) 4. Interpretation of Results Goal and scope defined in the first phase of the paint project.

13 Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) The inventory is the basic documentation process on which other parts of an LCA are built. General concept is simple: LCI is a comprehensive input/output analysis or environmental accounting system Inputs of materials and energy Outputs of products and releases to air, water, and land

14 General Life Cycle Flow Diagram Product Use or Consumption Energy Raw Materials Acquisition Materials Manufacture Final Disposition: Reuse, Recycle, Landfill, Incineration Wastes Reuse Product Manufacture Energy Recycle

15 Paint Management Methods Consumer-based ReuseConsumer 1 gives paint directly to Consumer 2 Dry/stabilize and disposeConsumer dries or stabilizes paint Paint goes to landfill or incinerator as MSW Collection-based ReusePaint is brought to sort/swap facility Accepted paint is made available in original container ConsolidationPaint is brought to consolidation facility Paints are sorted, blended, repackaged ReprocessingPaint is brought to reprocessing facility Paints are sorted, blended, tested, repackaged Virgin materials (additives) are used DisposalPaint is collected and disposed as waste

16 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) Inventory of inputs/outputs from the inventory phase are translated into potential impacts on human health and the environment using impact assessment (e.g., U.S. EPA TRACI) Classification Inventory flows grouped into relevant impact categories Example: Global warming impact category includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, many other substances. Characterization Within each category, normalize to common reference substance For global warming, each substance multiplied by its global warming potential relative to carbon dioxide

17 LCIA Limitations LCI does not track all the detailed information needed to accurately assess actual impacts of emissions Individual release locations, concentrations Direct and indirect exposure routes (inhalation, ingestion, dermal), etc. Aggregated life cycle emission quantities can represent very different scenarios with different impacts LCIA is not a replacement for toxicology or risk assessment, but is a useful way to condense long list of inventory flows to a set of meaningful impact categories for directional comparisons

18 Value of LCA Comprehensive life cycle systems approach ensures that important upstream and downstream impacts are not overlooked Provides quantitative information needed to make informed decisions Baseline for tracking & measuring effect of changes for an individual system Comparisons of alternative designs, formulations, processes Useful for internal and external purposes Internal process improvements and designs Informing customers, stakeholders, or general public Policy decisions

19 Data Collection Surveyed HHW programs and paint processors across the U.S. to gather data on: Quantities of paint collected Incoming paint transportation (dropoff at facility, collection events) Sorting Processing of usable paint (swap shop, on-site consolidation, sent off-site for reprocessing) Disposal of unusable paint (bulking, landfill disposal of liquid and dried paint, etc.) Recycling or disposal of paint containers Additional information/input from workgroup and Infrastructure Report Model collection and processing system specifications and costs

20 LCA Results Global warming Acidification Human health – cancer Human health – non-cancer Human health – criteria air pollution Eutrophication Ozone depletion Ecotoxicity Smog Water use Fossil fuel use Total energy use Mineral extraction

21 CBA Account for all private and public costs and benefits associated with each method Determine which can be monetized ConsumersIndustry Time Energy Storage space Promotion Collection Avoided raw materials costs GovernmentSociety MSW management “Free” paint Landfill disposal Avoided use of resources Avoided health effects Avoided impacts to air, water, land

22 CBA Monetizing LCA impact categories StressorImpact CategoryReference UnitsValuation Strategy Toxics Cancerkg Benzene equivalentsAvoided mortality Non-cancerkg Toluene equivalentsAvoided morbidity Ecotoxicitykg 2,4-D equivalentsCost of remediation Particulate matter Cancer & non-cancerkg PM 2.5 equivalentsAvoided mortality and morbidity Carbon dioxide, methane, other GHGs Global Warmingkg CO 2 equivalentsAvoided costs of climate change Nitrous oxides Smog FormationNOx equivalentsWTP for air clarity Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides AcidificationH+ moles equivalentAvoided damage costs Nitrogen, phosphorous Eutrophicationkg N equivalentsAvoided treatment costs Chlorofluorocarbons Ozone depletionkg CFC-11 equivalents Not monetized Resource Use Fossil fuel depletionsurplus MJ Water useLiters Flow Total energy useMJ Mineral extractionMJ GHG = Greenhouse gas WTP = Willingness to pay